Editorials & Extras

Monday, April 26, 2010

"LEE'S SUMMIT, MO – A mother came home Wednesday night to find her teen daughter shot to death. In the backyard, police say the father had already turned the gun on himself.

"On Thursday, a quiet Lee’s Summit community struggled to understand what investigators call a murder-suicide.

"On a street where it’s rare to even see a speeding ticket, long-time resident Anne Delano knew something was wrong when Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers and Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies swarmed a few houses away in the 25000 block of Milton Thompson Road, just west of Lake Lotawana.

"`I was scared. At first I saw an ambulance and fire truck and thought it was maybe a health issue, but the way everyone kept coming, I knew it was something else,` said Delano.

"When deputies arrived at the scene, they found 12-year-old Gabrielle Morejon [Facebook memorial here] dead inside the basement of the home and her 58-year-old father, George Morejon, dead inside a vehicle located behind the home.

"The couple’s teenage son was found wandering in the backyard unharmed.

"Investigators say the husband was in a dispute with his estranged wife and had been living in a separate area of the home. Court records show a judge granted a 6-month restraining order against Morejon in August, 2007.

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Abstract

"Murder-suicide is an act in which the perpetrator of a homicide kills him or herself after killing the victim(s). Rates of murder-suicide are fairly consistent across communities and are much lower than rates for homicide or suicide. The most common murder-suicide scenario involves a White male perpetrator in his 40s who kills his estranged spouse and perhaps his children before killing himself. The three most common categories of murder-suicide are cases in which (1) the act is caused by jealously or concern about age or illness; (2) the act is perpetrated by a parent who kills all of the children and then themselves; and (3) the act involves disgruntled employees, cult members, or members of religious or political groups who target a large number of victims before committing suicide. "